Jeopardy

Solid performances and slick direction give this thriller a certain edge, but the situation is contrived, the tension spurious. On holiday in Mexico, Sullivan is trapped by timber from a collapsing pier on a remote beach. With the tide rising, his wife (Stanwyck) drives off to seek help, leaving their young son (Aaker) to tend to his dad. She runs into an escaped killer (Meeker), who cynically appropriates the car to make good his own escape; but surprised by the way Stanwyck continues to fight him, he returns to the beach after she reminds him that he can use her husband's clothes and papers, and promises to go with him herself (as decoy for police roadblocks, or whatever he wants) provided her husband is freed. It's an MGM film, so you know that family and the love of a good woman will weigh heavily in the end.